


Of a Feather

by Wonderlandleighleigh



Series: Bits and Bats and Bobs [6]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: AU, Canon Divergent like wow, F/M, Gen, Like big time AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22085914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderlandleighleigh/pseuds/Wonderlandleighleigh
Summary: Jason Todd comes back from the dead, and Talia decides to act as mother instead of manipulator.
Relationships: Talia al Ghul/Bruce Wayne
Series: Bits and Bats and Bobs [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/899253
Comments: 17
Kudos: 136





	Of a Feather

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of some artwork by @DimothyTrake that spiraled into it's own, whole thing thanks to a large, vibrant discord chat. So thanks. But also...y'know. Dammit.

The pit's effects are severe, as always, and 15 year old Jason Todd can't stop screaming. 

It's days. He doesn't sleep, or eat. He just screams. 

And Talia isn't certain what to do until she sees a 3 year old peeking into Jason's room.

She lifts him up and settles him on the bed, far enough away so Jason's thrashing doesn't catch him unawares. 

But Damian crawls closer and looks the older boy right in the face. 

And shushed him. 

It isn't a severe "sssshh!" But just a child's way of saying "this is loud. You don't have to be loud."

It works. Jason breathes hard; his eyes are still wild and unaware. 

But he stops screaming. 

And suddenly, Talia has two sons. 

***** 

When her father tells her that if she is leaving, she is not allowed to take Damian with her, Talia responds by rolling her eyes and doing it anyways. 

She packs the boys up and they are gone as if they had never been there to begin with. 

Their first stop is India, and a Vispassana meditation expert Talia knows. Jason needs more help than she knows how to give, and the only thing she can think to do is hand him over to someone who understands how to fix broken minds. 

They spend a year there as Jason heals and Damian hugs every animal he meets. It is a rest year; a pause in their lives, and all three of them learn what it is to live outside of the Demon Head’s watchful gaze. A year without violence or strife. 

A year of learning how to just be. 

****

From India they go to France, and Jason becomes the vibrant, excited boy Talia remembers fondly. He talks a mile a minute about books and architecture and he picks up French so quickly Talia gets whiplash. 

He walks the little town they’re staying in for hours, eating croissants and looking at buildings. 

Damian dislikes France in a way Talia didn’t anticipate. Gone are the open spaces and hot sun of India, and the four-year-old couldn’t be more miserable. 

“It’s cold,” he complains in Arabic. “And I do not like to wear shoes.” 

“We will not stay too long, Habibi,” Talia promises. “But your brother loves it here. So we stay a while for him.” 

The only time Damian is truly excited in France is when they drive to the country and have picnics. He runs and plays in the lavender fields while Jason reads, laying in the grass, and Talia watches both of them carefully. 

“We will have to go see your father soon, Jason.” 

The boy lowers his book slowly, looking up at Talia with his blue-green eyes. 

“He misses you,” Talia tells him, brushing the white streak of hair from his eyes. “And he does not know about Damian yet.” 

“Does he need to?” 

“If he doesn’t find out now, he will find out later,” Talia tells him. “And that will be worse.” 

“I don’t wanna go back,” Jason admits quietly. “I don’t wanna be Robin anymore.” 

“You do not have to do anything you do not wish to,” Talia tells him firmly. “And Bruce has a new trainee who helps him. His name is Tim.” 

Jason swallows and lifts his book again. 

“You are not replaced, Jason,” Talia tells him, lowering the book again to look at him. “Your father needed to heal from your death. He does not know of your return. This is a good thing. You’ll have another brother.” 

Jason rolls his eyes playfully. “More brats.” 

Talia quirks an eyebrow and teasingly stuffs a piece of baguette into his mouth. “Go back to your book, little devil boy.” 

Jason smirks, and chews and reads. 

*****  
Talia gets them a penthouse apartment downtown. It’s far too nice for two rowdy boys, but she doesn’t care, as long as her songs are warm and happy. She’s not at all sure what to do from here; how to tell Bruce, and what happens after that. 

What happens after that? After he knows that she has been keeping two sons from him,both thought lost, one to violence and the other to chance.

She sighs softly and looks out as the snow falls over Gotham, and her boys sleep peacefully in their beds.

***** 

It’s around Christmas when Bruce walks back to the Batmobile one night to find that the tires have been jacked.

He stares for a long, silent moment, seeing the tire iron in the snow, and no trace of his wheels anywhere. 

***** 

“They are dirty, do not bring them inside,” Talia tells him. 

“What am I supposed to do with ‘em?” Jason asks, bewildered. 

“You should not have them to begin with,” Talia argues. “That is not the way to tell your father that you are back, it is unkind.” 

“Why would father think that Jason stole his tires?” Damian asks. “Do all sons in America steal their father’s tires?” 

“Yes,” Jason tells him. 

“No,” Talia snaps. “Jason.” 

“It’s our father-son language!” he cries. “I steal his tires, he knows it’s me.” 

Talia blows out a slow breath and closes her eyes. “Go take a bath, you are filthy from kneeling in the street. Damian, go play in your room, please. I need to make a phone call.” 

***** 

Bruce’s face is blank as Talia explains. 

Jason was found on the side of the road. Once Ra’s found out that the grave had been disturbed he had his men find Jason and bring him to the Demon’s Head, where he was tested and deemed brain dead. Talia had put Jason in the Lazarus Pit, and his mind came back, but broken. It had taken time. 

“You should have come to me first,” Bruce growls, obviously angry; obviously hurt. 

“He was not ready,” Talia tells him. 

“And you decided that?!” Bruce cries, on his feet in a second. “You made that choice-” 

“He did!” Talia yells back. “Jason is afraid to face you, Beloved!” 

“That’s ridiculous!” Bruce says. “He’s my son, why would he-” 

“Because he failed you,” Talia says simply. “He failed the Batman, and he was not ready to look you in the eyes.” 

“He could never. He knows that.” 

“Ran away to Ethiopia and killed by the Joker?” Talia points out, lifting an eyebrow. 

“HE DIDN’T FAIL ME,” Bruce’s voice booms throughout the penthouse, and distantly, Talia can hear Damian yelp. “I failed him! He died because I didn’t prepare him enough! I didn’t reign him in enough! I didn’t protect him! He was a child, and I…” 

Talia watches him deflate before her. It’s something she’s only seen once before, when she’d lied to him about losing their child. 

She wonders if Bruce will ever forgive her for putting him through this much pain. 

She takes his hands and leads him to the couch, sitting him down. “There is more.” 

“How can there possibly be more?” he asks, voice raw, eyes red. 

“Because I keep thinking that I am doing the right thing,” she tells him honestly. “And I can see now that I was wrong. And I am sorry.” 

He looks at her, confused. “You kept Jason from me. What else have you not told me?” 

“That Jason has a younger brother,” Talia says quietly. “He is four now, and he has your eyes.” 

Bruce stares at her, shock written on his face. “You-” 

She takes a breath and fidgets, getting to her feet. “When I told you...when I lied to you...I thought I was helping you. ‘Letting you off the hook,’ as Jason would say. You were distracted with my welfare. You weren’t focused on winning fights, but protecting me-” 

“Because you were pregnant with our baby,” Bruce snaps. “I was doing what I was supposed to be doing!” 

Talia says nothing to that. 

She knows he’s right. 

She know now that she was young and stupid and that she had done him no favors by pushing him away and keeping Damian from him. 

“Is he here?” 

“He and Jason are in the bedroom.” 

“I’m taking them with me.” 

“No,” Talia says softly. “No you are not.” 

“Jason is my son,” Bruce snaps. “Damian is-” 

“My son,” Talia cuts him off. “Damian is my son. And Jason chose to stay with us. He is old enough-” 

“He’s not.” 

“You do realize that if you try to leave with them,” Talia’s voice is calm and even. “Jason will smuggle Damian out of your home in a backpack and try to find me.” 

Bruce says nothing because he knows that she’s right. Jason doesn’t go anywhere he doesn’t want to go. 

“Perhaps take some time,” Talia tells him, reaching out and resting her hand on his. “Think about things. I’m telling you all of this because Jason misses you. And you deserve to know about Damian. To know him. He is a sharp boy. A good boy. You’d be proud of him. But facing them like this, when you are raw and angry...”

“It’s not a great first impression,” Bruce admits. 

“No,” Talia says kindly. “But I want you to come back. When you’re ready. When you can face them as a father, and not a raw nerve.” 

***** 

“But I wanted to meet him now!” Damian cries, foot stomping on the hardwood beneath him. 

It’s an hour later and Bruce has left. To think. To center himself. 

“It’s better this way,” Jason tells his little brother. “You do not wanna see B when he’s pissed. It’s not pretty.” 

“Your father will calm down, and he will be able to see you with open eyes then, Damian,” Talia promises. “He needs time.” 

***** 

The knock on the door the next night is a surprise, but Talia finds it hard to feel that same surprise in regards to who is on the other side. 

Dick Grayson looks nervous and emotional, though he smiles and holds up a supermarket bouquet of flowers.

“So hi,” Dick says, holding the flowers out. “Bruce told me what’s going on, and I wanted to come by and...well...say hi. To everybody.” 

Talia grins a little and takes the flowers. “Polite as ever, Richard.” 

“Also guilty-feeling,” Dick adds as he follows her into the penthouse. “On Bruce’s behalf. The yelling and everything.” 

“Your father has every reason to be upset,” Talia tells him. “All of this is quite a shock.” 

“You’re not kidding,” Dick agrees, but stops when he sees Jason leaving his bedroom. 

Both of them freeze in place, staring at each other in shock.

“Weren’t you like...in space or something?” Jason asks with a cracked voice. 

“Shut up,” Dick mutters. “Shut up, shut up, shut up.” He bounds over and envelopes Jason in his arms, holding on for dear life. “Holy crap just shut up and let me be glad you’re not dead.” 

Talia watches them, and spots Damian in a doorway, watching as well. When the boys break apart, they both have tears on their faces.

“So,” Jason sniffs and wipes at his face. “So, this is Damian.” He gestures towards the young boy, who takes a step back. 

Dick wipes his own face and crouches down, giving Damian a thousand-watt smile. “Hi, Damian. I’m Dick.” 

“That is a stupid name,” Damian tells him. 

“Damian,” Talia admonishes, but Dick and Jason both laugh. 

“Well, yeah,” Dick says. “But it’s my stupid name.” He smiles again. “I’m Jason’s older brother. Which kinda means I’m your older brother, too.” 

Damian’s eyes almost light up, but he hesitates, thinking it over. 

DIck waits him out, still crouching, occasionally smirking up at Jason. 

“I think I should like to have another brother,” Damian tells them. 

“Then I’m your man,” Dick says, and holds his arms open. “You wanna hug?” 

“No.” 

“Eh We’ll work up to it.” 

***** 

The new Robin is just thirteen, and small for his age, but Talia can see the sharpness in his eyes; the way his mind words is, no doubt, something special. 

But Timothy is eager to please, to help, to learn; obviously a touch-starved child, and she decides quickly, upon meeting him at the Wayne Foundation charity Christmas Gala, that she will help this sweet child where Bruce doesn’t seem able.  
Talia carefully brushes lint from the boy’s suit tuxedo, and adjusts his little bowtie, and straightens his hair the same way she had for Jason earlier that night, and Tim seems to unconsciously lean into the maternal-ness of it. 

“Go get yourself something to drink,” she orders gently. “It’s very hot in here, and you don’t need to get dehydrated.” 

He nods automatically and hurries off, and Talia watches him, grinning a little, satisfied. 

“He doesn’t need to be mothered,” Bruce says from behind her. 

Talia turns to him and sips her champagne. “Yes, he does. He’s a child, and children benefit from having more than one parental influence in their lives.” 

Bruce sighs softly. “His mother just died, very recently. His father has only just woken up from a coma caused by the same incident...it’s been...difficult.” 

“It seems so,” Talia nods. 

They stand in silence for a moment, listening to the chatter and laughter around them; the clink of glasses and the band playing an upbeat tune. 

“I’m sorry,” Bruce tells her. “The way I acted the other night-” 

“You were upset,” Talia cuts him off. “And you were right to be. Jason and Damian are your sons. You have a right to be in their lives. To love them as I do.” 

“Where is Damian, by the way?” Bruce asks. 

Talia grins a little. “Damian is asleep upstairs, despite a valiant attempt at staying awake for the whole party.” 

“Ah.” 

Talia takes a breath. “Is Timothy staying with you?” 

“No,” Bruce admits. “He and his father are actually my neighbors, so he’s here often enough. But he still lives with his father.” 

“His pain is written all over him, you know,” Talia says. “You’re used to Dick who hides it with laughter and show, and Jason who hides it behind his fists. You’re not used to a boy who doesn’t know how to cover it up.” 

“The training has helped,” Bruce tells her. “Helped him focus his energy. To do good. To move more purposefully. The Qui Gong in the mornings, especially, seems to help him.” 

Talia nods. “Perhaps Jason can join you for that.” 

“If he likes,” Bruce says, taking a breath. “I...where is Jason?” 

Talia looks around the party, and spots Jason at the bar, attempting to sweet-talk a waitress out of a tray of drinks. “Being Jason.” 

Bruce follows her gaze and smirks. “Excuse me while I spot my fifteen-year-old from getting drunk.” 

She reaches for him before he can step away, pulling him close and looking him in the eyes. They’re closer than she meant for them to be; their noses almost bumping. 

“There’s still fragility there, Bruce,” she says softly. “Be gentle with him.” 

He nods, his blue eyes looking from her brown ones to her lips and then back, before pulling away slowly. 

“I will.” He swallows, but doesn’t move. “Talia...you’re really done with Ra’s? With the League?” 

She lifts her chin, and takes a deep breath, thinking of her father on his lonely throne, yearning not for family but for legacy; to live on and on and on and on and she wonders how she ever thought that at all sane or good. 

“My…” she closes her eyes briefly, acknowledging the incorrect word. “Our. Children deserve better than Ra’s and his bloodshed.” 

Bruce nods slowly. “And what about my bloodshed?” 

“A conversation for another time,” she tells him quickly. “Go get Jason.” 

Bruce leans in then, dropping a light kiss on her cheek before stepping away. 

She watches him, sipping her champagne, as Bruce steps up behind Jason, who seems to spook at the sound of his father’s voice, jumping and turning and then hugging Bruce tightly. 

He hesitates for a moment before his arms wrap around the boy, his hand rubbing his back soothingly. 

Talia swaps out her empty glass for a full one from a passing waiter, and wonders what happens now.


End file.
